Teen Hollywood Party

I just read some really creative ideas on Yahoo answers for teen Hollywood parties and thought I’d share them with you:

- One girl created a DVD with spoofs of movies (Indiana Jane, The Incredible Hulkette, Legally Strawberry Blonde, etc.) – sounds very fun.
- Another girl had great decoration suggestions including: “Now Playing” posters made from pictures cut out of magazines advertising movies, red fabric draped as a carpet, and silver stars cut from wrapping paper on the wall, flashlights angled against large Hollywood lettering in a window.
- Someone else suggested playing the Hollywood game with questions and answers about celebrities.

Here’s a whole Hollywood party scenario from teenpartyideas.com.

I found a helpful article on an “American Idol Teen Birthday Party” at suite101.

The article “Lights! Camera! Action! Birthday Party Theme” by Denise Witmer on about.com had some great ideas.

Don’t forget the idea of doing hair and makeup and taking glitzy “head shots” of your guests, too.
There are some fun Hollywood themed invitations and paper products out there, as well. My favorites on our site are the Director’s Cut Tableware.
Click here to read more!

Teen parties

My husband sent me this link to a 1950s instructional video on teen party planning – you’ll only need to watch a minute or 2 to get the idea. I’ll admit I watched it all the way through - mainly for laughs about how different it was then. Such as “soon after the food is served, it is time to go home.” Talk about rigid!

The basics the film covered were: guest list, invitations, refreshments, and entertainment. At that time matching up the number of girls and guys invited to a party was considered important—not something we find so necessary these days. The other three are, of course, something to consider any time when planning a party.

Also, covered was party etiquette. So I thought I’d share this just-for-fun quiz that addresses etiquette issues.
Can you be the life of every party? Teen Quiz

Free Fun Quizzes at FunQuizCards.com
http://www.funquizcards.com/quiz/teen/can-you-be-the-life-of-every-party.php

Now I’d like to see a quiz like this written by teens. If you know of one, give me a shout. Click here to read more!

Game for Teens and Adults

Recently I came across a fun game idea called: I've Done Something You Haven't Done. It’s an Ice Breaker and Get Acquainted game that takes some thought, but could be lots of fun.

Here’s how to play:
1) The first person introduces themselves and tells the group “something they have done that they think no one else in the room has done.” This could be theme related or place related (i.e. somewhere I’ve been) or limited by senses (seen, touched, tasted), depending how you want to set up your game.
2) If someone else has also done it, they call out “Done It!”
3) Person one now needs to come up with a new something, until they succeed at mentioning something no one else has done.

One variation is to have each person start out with tokens (or pennies, etc.) – say 3 a piece. Whoever calls out “Done It!” first gets to claim the token. The game winner is the one with the most tokens. You could even make your tokens a donation item, such as bring 3 cans of food for a game—the winner gets to decide what charity receives the food. Click here to read more!

Teen birthday party themes

Teens may or may not want a party theme, but it sure makes decorations easy if you have one. Sometimes a theme can be sparked off of something the teen loves, does, or wants to do. It might be inspired by a food, an invitation, or from a list such as one from the references below.

Love to Know not only has good ideas, but some questions to consider

Discovery Center has an article on “Teen birthday party ideas.”

About.com offers an article called “Teen Birthday Party Planner.”

The Teen Party Ideas website has a whole section.

Another article “Birthday Party Ideas for Teen Girls: Throw a Party They'll Love” focuses on girls.

Boardman’s Birthday Party Ideas site also has a teen section.

Of course, doing matching invitations is fun. IBY.com now has a teen birthday section. And remember you can customize the wording to fit your teen and party. Click here to read more!

Planning a Valentine’s Day Party?

Today’s offering is a collection of resources for you.

For Children

Valentine's Day Party Ideas and Party Games for Kids

Valentine Crafts for Kids

Valentine's Day Party For Kids

Valentine's Day Games and Activities – with printable resources

Valentine Party Games for Children

For Children, Teens and Adults

Valentine's Day Party Ideas for Kids, Teens and the Young At Heart

Games with a Valentine Spirit

Valentine Fun

Everything Valentine’s

And, if you need invitation ideas – click here for a selection of Valentine related Invitations. Click here to read more!

Beach party ideas

If you’re lucky enough to live near a beach in a warm climate, it’s always easy to plan a beach party. But if you live in a cold climate, you might want to warm up your winter with a beach scene of your own. Check out these resources for ideas.

Birthday Party Ideas has tons of beach party theme ideas

Surf Party Theme (For Adults)

Beach Party Ideas for Teens – beach not required

Beach Party food

And if you need invitations, here are some fun beach ones:

Beach Party Festival Fill-in

Beach Chair Die Cut Fill-in

Click here to read more!

Making a Splash! Pool party Ideas for kids and teens.

Have access to an indoor pool or live in a warm climate? Then plan a pool party!

Games
A fun pool party game is Marco Polo. Whoever is "it" has to swim around the pool with their eyes closed trying to tag other players. When "it" calls out Marco, everyone else has to yell "Polo." "It" tries to find people by sound.

Of course, there’s always Pool Volleyball and Pool Frisbee or races with floatable water toys. Here are some Game Resources for you, too.

Swimming Pool Games for large groups

More Swimming Games

Sharks & Minnows How To

Fun and Games for the Swimming Pool

Resources for pool themes and ideas

Kids Pool Party Ideas

Pool Party Ideas for Older Kids and Teens

Pool Party Ideas for Kids – this is aimed at summer parties, but many of the games and décor ideas could be used for an indoor pool

Pool Side Party Ideas - themes

Pool Birthday Party – tons of ideas

Here are some invitations that are great for pool parties, too.

Thanks to M Connors for the pool photo from morguefile.com!

Click here to read more!

Christmas Party Games and Activities

White elephant gift exchange. At an annual department party for my husband’s work we did various types of exchanges. But the most awful gift (true white elephants – those items no one would really want) was one of the most fun. These items should either be something you have in your house or something that costs very little (thrift shops, dollar stores, discount stores are good sources). We always played the game by drawing numbers. Number 1 got to choose a package and open it. Number 2 could either steal number 1s or take a new package and open it. If number 2 steals number 1’s gift, number 1 chooses another gift. Gifts can only be stolen twice. After the last person has picked a gift, number 1 gets their chance to steal.

I've also seen this game played with nice gifts.

FOR ALL AGES

8 Christmas Party Games

40+ Christmas Party Games

20+ Christmas Games and Activities – especially appropriate for school parties

43 Christmas Party Games

Or what about sharing a Christmas Story? Here’s a site with lots of stories, plus links to more stories.

ESPECIALLY FOR KIDS

3 Children’s Christmas Party Games

5 Children’s Christmas Party Games

“Ideas For Your Kids' Christmas Party” by John Lenaghan

Christmas Party Games for Kids 4-8

ESPECIALLY FOR TEENS

Christmas Party Games for Teens

ESPECIALLY FOR ADULTS

Christmas Party Games for Adults

These Christmas Party Games include Christmas Movie Trivia, The Bacon Factor, and more, plus Party Starters. Click here to read more!

Mixer games for children’s and teen parties

Preschoolers and early elementary age kids don’t usually need an icebreaker per se, but just need an activity where they can get involved and soon they’ll make friends. As they get older, or if they are in a group where they don’t know others, sometimes an ice breaker is needed. Be careful though when choosing your activity to think about what will not be offensive or embarrassing. I remember my teenage daughters being upset about activities that they were “made” to do. You don’t want anyone in tears.

Here are some resources for mixers or ice breakers:
Icebreaker Games for different age groups.

Icebreaker Games – I think the frozen Tshirt would be a great outdoor icebreaker

Ice Breakers – you have to scroll down to see the games after you click.

At Party Games Central, you can customize game lists by age, indoor or outdoors, type of party, etc. Click here to read more!

Teen Party Games

Looking for some games for a teen party?

Let me share a couple of my favorite teenage games:

One game I remember from my teen years is “If you loved me.” The person who is “it” goes up to anyone in the group (everyone is sitting in a circle) and says, “Honey (or Baby), if you loved me, you’d smile.” The second person must say without smiling, “Honey (or Baby), I love you, but I just can’t smile.” “It” can use all kinds of facial expressions, tone of voice, to try to make the person smile. I remember my friends getting pretty creative with this one, i.e. a guy jumping on another guys lap and the laughter erupted.

Another game I remember teens loving is Train Wreck. Works well in a big room, although I will warn that folding chairs can be at risk when you have big guys. Line up chairs in rows with one less chair than people. The person who is “it” gets to choose some feature (i.e. hair color, eye color, clothing item, age, girls, etc.). They say it aloud and everyone fitting that category must jump out of their chair and find another chair. Or “it” can say “Train Wreck” and everyone needs a new seat. “It” races to a chair, too. Whoever is left without a spot to sit is the next “it.”

Just thinking about these makes me want to play...

Here are some resources, too.

Party Game Central – Teen Parties

Eventwise had great collections of games. Here are a select few categories: Teenager Party Games Teenager Party Games Part 2 Sleepover Games for Teens

And from another site – Teen Party Idea for Movie Lovers

Check out these articles:

Birthday Party Ideas for Teen Boys
Birthday Party Ideas for Boys Who Want to Be Men

Birthday Party Ideas for Teen Girls
Throw a Party They'll Love Click here to read more!

Teen Friend Birthday Party Problems

What do you do when you have friends who don’t get along with each other and you’d like to have both celebrate your birthday?

Nothing says you can’t plan more than one celebration. Here are some ideas.
- You could do something special with one friend* and invite the others to a party. i.e. “I’d love to go see that new movie or go to so-&-so’s concert, but can’t afford to invite a bunch of friends, so would you go with me to celebrate my birthday?”
- Would your parents let you have two parties? If you keep the costs down by doing home parties and help with set-up and clean-up and explain why, you mom and dad will probably go for it.
- If your family parties aren’t too lame, maybe one or two friends can join you there.*

These ideas work well, too, if you have a friend who doesn’t know your school (club, church, etc.) friends.

Another possibility, if your parents allow, is to invite more friends. If there are enough people at the party your friends don’t have to spend time together and it won’t be obvious. But if you DO decide to invite them both, I suggest you speak to each one privately. Could say something like, “I know you don’t get along with ‘Janie,’ but she’s my friend, too, and for my birthday I’d really appreciate it, if you two aren’t disagreeable. I’m asking ‘Janie’ to do the same thing with you, too.”

*Where I work you can order as few or as many invitations as you like. How fun for the special people to get a special invitation. Here are a few of my favorites: Pajama Time, Indy Race Car, Circles of Fun & Make a Splash. Remember the wording is up to you! Click here to read more!

Halloween Party Games

One of the Halloween parties I remember from when I was a kid, was a haunted barn. It was dark inside and our guides told us a story about a dead cat and put our hands in bowls. This is the cat’s eyes (peeled grapes), his guts (cold spaghetti), etc. I also do remember bobbing for apples, both in a tub of water or hanging from a string (which is nicer as no one gets wet), and wrapping someone in toilet paper to make them a mummy, but I really can’t remember much else.

So I did some web surfing and came up with a bunch of resources for Halloween party games.

Children’s Halloween Games

Classic Ghoulish Games – as stated, those classics.

Everything Halloween: Games – this says games, but they also include party theme ideas.

Great Adult Halloween Games

Halloween Party Games from 1 Halloween net

Halloween Party Games from Pumpkin nook

Halloween Party Games for Everyone! – this site has suggestions for all ages.

Kids' Halloween Party Games – many of these ideas are good for school parties. Click here to read more!

Halloween Costumes

Going to a costume party later this month? Or need a costume for your trick-or-treater? I thought I’d pull together some online resources for easy costuming alternatives from what’s in the discount and party stores (i.e. latest popular movie themes). And now would be the time to order to you get your costume in time!

Animal themed costumes


The Jungle Store has animal costumes and masks for all ages.



An inexpensive costume can be made by using a mask or face paint with a headband, sweats in the appropriate color and a tail. i.e. White clothing and the owl mask below would be quick and easy.








The Jungle Store’s costumes are not limited to animals. Check out these two!







Small kid themes


ArsaToys has some cute frilly girl costumes.

Costume Hub had some cute costumes for either boys or girls.








Adult costumes


Lingerie Diva has some fun adult costumes for women. Though some are very risqué and you should reserve for the bedroom! Warning: many images on this site are definitely R rated! Here’s some G rated examples.





The PhillyBurbs site has men's costumes organized by themes. Reading the reviews on the costumes is half the fun. As far as I can tell each costume has a link to a site where you can buy the costume if you desire. Here’s a sample costume.

If you’re into making your own, fabric stores have easy patterns. I’ve also found pieces and parts of costumes at thrift stores (SHOP EARLY) for costumes for myself and kids.

Have fun!

Click here to read more!

Murder, you wrote

Ever thought of writing your own murder mystery script for a party? Halloween is still almost a month away, so there’s time. Or it could be an unusual birthday party idea. Try this site for help on the “how to”s.

Of course, you can buy mystery party materials. This site looked interesting.
And this one was especially aimed at kids.

Here’s a helpful article: “Host a Murder Mystery Party for Your Tween or Teen.”

And I know you can also buy mystery jigsaw puzzles. You put the puzzle together to solve the mystery story that comes with the puzzle. If you can’t find them at local toy store or bookstore, try this site.

This fill-in invitation might work for a mystery party. Click here to read more!

Halloween or Harvest party?

Some parents are not comfortable with taking their children trick-or-treating, or are looking for alternative ideas to the witches and goblins, etc. of “All Hallowed Eve” on October 31st. Some adults may just want to try something different from the “same old, same old.”

Planning a party is an obvious solution, but it’s nice to have a source of ideas. We’ve gathered together some suggestions and resources for you here.

If you want guests to wear non-scary costumes, you can plan a theme based party that will gently guide your attendees. Ideas include:
- wild animals
- pets
- robots
- a specific movie or book theme (though be sure the villains in these stories aren’t too villainous looking)
- a good guys theme such as superheroes (no enemies welcome)
- a Biblical story (i.e. Noah and the ark – for kids; the Garden of Eden – for a risqué adult only part)
Of course, you’d want to carry your theme through with decorations, food, and party favors.

Teenage or adult parties could be different with these themes:
- masked ball – think of the 18th century Europe and their highly decorated face masks
famous historical or political figure costumes
- tree theme – have materials around for guests to decide what kind of tree they are (strong like an oak, ornamental like some flowering trees, etc.)
- for adults only – a wine tasting

Think outside. What’s fun to do in your area in the big outdoors? You may find community events or fall festivals where you want to invite a group to share in the excitement.

You can do breakfast events, too.

A few resources to check out:

15 Fun Fall and Harvest Outdoor Party Games for Children

Autumn Outdoor Entertaining

A Fall Harvest Party

Halloween Drop-In Party Ideas

Teen Parties: Setting the Rules

And don’t forget to get your invitations at IBY.com – Invitations by you! Here are some fall themed invitations we have available.

Click here to read more!

Teen Birthday Party Ideas

I have to admit that girl teen party ideas are easier for me than guy teen ideas, since I was a girl and had teenage daughters myself. So besides my list of ideas for either single or mixed gender parties, I’m giving you some resources where you can find more ideas.

Gaming. What’s one of the fun spots in your area? Like a game themed restaurant or entertainment center? Ideas include: laser tag, video gaming, miniature golf, paint ball. Obviously, this costs money, but it often means no prep or clean up at home, since you can have the cake and present opening there.

Hiking. Most areas have cool places to go, even if it’s just a park. Combine it with a scavenger hunt that requires each team to have a disposable camera or (if the teens have camera phones, they can use them) to “capture” items on the list.

Mystery Meal. This is an at home party, and you’ll need a few volunteers to help you serve. Assign “new” names to each food item, each piece of silverware, napkins, toothpicks, beverages and make a menu using these “new” terms. Names can be nonsensical or fit a theme (motorcycles, movie idols, music artists). Each teen sits at the dinner table and is provided a menu of enough items to make 3 to 4 courses. A waiter or waitress takes each person’s order for the first course. In the kitchen the serves know what the code is and load up the plates appropriately. One guy’s choices give him a glass of juice, a toothpick, and a fork. The girl beside him receives dessert, salad, and a napkin. Kids find what they get pretty hilarious. (Menu items can only be ordered once per teen.) Mystery meal invite idea.

Bike Rally. Bicycle that is. Teens have to go in pairs. Each pair is given different directions (i.e. turn right at the T in the road, or turn left after the fifth house on the left, or at the swimming pool, go west). One partner has the odd numbered directions and the other the even number, so they must stay teamed. The goal is to see which pair can get to the destination in the shortest time. Of course, you want the actual “mileage” to be similar for each route. You may also need some adult spotters at key locations to make sure the teens are on the right route. Of course, an adult host should be at the arrival point, too.

Concert. Many areas have free concerts—they’re the bands who haven’t made it big yet, or the concert may be a benefit for a community food bank. For afterwards find a nearby restaurant where you can bring in your own cake and just buy beverages.

Lights, Camera, Action. Have a video camera or two and have the teens make their own videos. It could be a new music video for a favorite song, a commercial for some item, a short skit. Provide them with some starter ideas, some costumes and/or props. If you want something different than what you have around your house, thrift shops are a good source (except near Halloween). You can even take the teens to a thrift store or dollar store and give them each a few bucks to buy whatever they think they’ll need. And don’t forget the popcorn! An invite idea.

Teen Birthday Party Online Resources

Ideas for teen boys.

Ideas for teen girls.

Article of ideas for either gender.

Diverse list of birthday party themes.

Expert Teenage Party Tips. Click here to read more!